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Title:

Do First Impressions Matter?: Evaluating Officer Perception of Impairing Substances in Colorado State Patrol Traffic Citation Records

Accession Number:

01872476

Record Type:

Component

Abstract:

Traffic citation records from the Colorado State Patrol (CSP) are one of the first available data sources on impaired driving, but citations only provide officer impression of impairing substance and are missing toxicology data. This study sought to evaluate officer perception of impairing substances presented on traffic citation records using a dataset of linked impaired driving court case filings and toxicology records. The authors analyzed 14,760 CSP citations from 2018-2020 where impaired driving was suspected and used probabilistic data linking to match them to an impaired driving court case and toxicology record. After manual reviews were completed, 13,893 citation records (94%) linked to an impaired driving court case filing, and 9,333 citations had toxicology testing results (63%). Risk ratio calculations of screening panel type (alcohol vs. drug) and officer perception of alcohol, marijuana, and other drug were performed. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) were calculated for officer perception of impairing substances compared to toxicology results. Citation records were most sensitive and accurate for alcohol positivity in toxicology records (between 90-98%); marijuana alone (76%) and other drug alone (80%) had good sensitivity results despite the absence of roadside screening. The perception of polydrug impairment largely did not reflect drug positivity on toxicology reports. Limitations of this study include: not all citation records had drug and alcohol screening, and screening type was associated with officer erception of impairing substance, which might suggest confirmation bias. Additionally, drug positivity on toxicology reports does not infer drug impairment.

Supplemental Notes:

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ACS50 Standing Committee on Impairment in Transportation.

Report/Paper Numbers:

TRBAM-23-03420

Language:

English

Corporate Authors:

Transportation Research Board

Authors:

Rosenthal, Allison
Stewart, Cindy
Reed, Jack

Publication Date:

2023

Conference:

Transportation Research Board 102nd Annual Meeting

Location: Washington DC, United States
Date: 2023-1-8 to 2023-1-12
Sponsors: Transportation Research Board

Media Type:

Digital/other

Geographic Terms:

Colorado

Subject Areas:

Highways; Law; Safety and Human Factors

Source Data:

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2023 Paper #TRBAM-23-03420

Files:

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Created Date:

Feb 1 2023 10:33AM